The comparisons between two former North Carolina guards that were drafted in the lottery by the Chicago Bulls were inevitable. But no one expected them to come this fast.
Coby White will likely never be on the same level that Michael Jordan was and is, but the two have frequently been mentioned in the same sentence as of late. That’s because with a 35-point performance on Tuesday, White became the first Bulls rookie to score 30 or more points in three straight games since His Airness.
White has been up and down in 2019-20, but may have finally found his groove in the Association. He's averaging 12.3 points per game, but coupled his 35-point game with a pair of 33-point performances on Saturday and Sunday.
The biggest reason for his offensive explosion is that he’s taking more shots. Prior to Monday, White hadn’t attempted more than 15 field goals in a game since Jan. 10. In the last three games, he took 22, 18 and 21 shots, respectively.
A large amount of those shots also came from beyond the 3-point line. The sharpshooter made seven, five and six 3-point shots, respectively, over the three-game stretch.
The major difference between White’s inconsistent stretches and this one is that he seems to be exuding confidence. That is contributing to an uptick in almost every offensive statistic for the rookie.
The former UNC guard is shooting just 38.7 percent from the floor for the season, but has shot 57.6 percent over the last three games. He's also shot 58.7 percent from 3-point range over his hot stretch.
White showed shades of his streakiness during his time in Chapel Hill. The same thing looks to be true for White in the NBA. While he may never become Michael Jordan, watch out for Coby White the rest of this season as he continues to get comfortable in the NBA.
